Remotely controlled device for rotating the steering-wheel of a motor vehicle and then taking it back to the starting position

ABSTRACT

A remotely controlled device for rotating the steering-wheel of a vehicle consists of an upper portion for gripping the steering-wheel ring by means of jaws (1), of a central frame (14) carrying a motor (16) with the relevant motion transmission chain (10, 11, 12, 13, 15) and means for detecting and memorizing the rotations (17, 19, 22, 23, 24), and of a lower portion with supporting members (27, 28, 29, 30, 31) which provide the device with the base required to react to the steering-wheel reaction torque.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns devices for analysing end tuning motorvehicles, and in particular a remotely controlled device for rotatingthe steering-wheel and then taking it back to the starting position.

It is known that the front steering wheels of motor vehicles require aperiodical check and truing operation of their toe-in in order to verifythe correctness of the various angles characterizing the forecarriagekinematic mechanism. In carrying out said toe-in operation, the frontwheels are repeatedly steered one way and the other by means of thesteering-wheel, in order to allow also the alignment of thesteering-wheel spiders with the wheels, so that the driver is notobliged, to keep the steering-wheel lightly rotated on one side to gostraight.

This rotation of the steering-wheel is usually carried out manually bythe person carrying out the toe-in operation, which blocks thesteering-wheel in the desired position by means of a suitable device, orby an assistant thereof whim rotates and blocks the steering-wheelaccording to the instructions of the operator which is under thevehicle,

2. The Prior Art

An example of a remotely controlled apparatus capable of rotating thesteering wheel of an automobile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,577.However, this apparatus is mainly intended to manipulate the controlpedals and the gear shift lever, while having the optional capability ofrotating the steering wheel by means of a pair of rollers having a softsurface to contact the steering wheel ring. It is apparent that thisarrangement does not prevent the rollers from sliding on the ring,particularly at the end of the steering run. Moreover, it can not beapplied to steering wheels having a shape other than exactly circular(e.g. oval or rounded square), otherwise the rollers would not contactthe ring properly along certain arcs of the rotation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a remotely controlleddevice overcoming the above-cited drawbacks of the prier art andsuitable to replace properly the operator's assistant, so that theoperator himself can carry out precise steering-wheel adjustments withno need to move from his working position.

A further object of the captioned device is taking back thesteering-wheel exactly to the starting position at the end of theoperation.

These objects are achieved by means of a device consisting of an upperportion for gripping the steering-wheel ring by means of jaws, a centralframe carrying a motor, together with means for transmitting the motionof the motor, and means for detecting and memorizing the rotations ofthe steering-wheel, and a lower portion with supporting members whichprovide the device with the base required to react to the steering-wheelreaction torque.

Therefore, the device according to the present invention allows to carryout a very fine and precise adjustment of the steering-wheel movement,absolutely impossible to be achieved manually or with prior art devices,so that the truing of the wheel toe-in can be carried out with greatprecision.

Another advantage of the captioned device is its capacity of memorizingthe steering-wheel starting position and the following rotationsthereof, so that it is capable of automatically taking back thesteering-wheel exactly to said position at the end of the operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other advantages end characteristics of the device accordingto the present invention will be apparent from the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment thereof, reported as anon-limiting example, referring to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partly see-through view of the captioned device, wherein themovement of the lower portion is indicated by the dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a see-through view of the upper portion of the device mountedon steering-wheel; end

FIG. 3 is a front view of the device mounted on a steering-wheel andwith the lower portion in the retracted position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is seen that the captioned device is made upby an upper portion for gripping the steering-wheel, a central framecarrying the driving and memory apparatus and a lower supportingportion.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown that the ring 1 of thesteering-wheel is gripped by means of jaws 1 substantially hook-shapedand internally provided with a coating 2 suitable to avoid that seadjaws 1 slip on said ring 1 and/or scratch it. In the describedembodiment, there are four jaws 1 (FIG. 3) made of flexible steel,however they could be different in number, position and material, as faras they continue to carry out their gripping function on thesteering-wheel.

Jaws 1 slide on an arm 3 wherein two longitudinal guides 4 are formed,and the opening and closing motion of said jaws 1 is controlled by aknob 5 which is coaxially integral with a gear 6 which engages two rackmembers 7, each of which carries at one end thereof the respectivejaws 1. To maintain the pressure of the latter on the ring 1 of thesteering-wheel, each of the members 7 is connected, at the end oppositeto that of jaws 1, to an end of arm 3 through a spring 8 which exerts atraction such as to keep jaws 1 tightly gripping, and whose force mustbe overcome by means of knob 5 in order to remove the device from thesteering-wheel.

Turning back to FIG. 1, there is seen that arm 3 is connected to therest of the device through a plate 9 which is driven into rotation by ashaft 10 integral thereto which takes the motion from a gear 11 keyedthereon and driven in turn by gears 12 for reducing and transmitting themotion coming from a driving gear 13. This series of gears is mountedwithin a central frame 14, outside which, on the lower portion thereof,a reducer 15 which operates gear 13, an electric motor 16 and aprocessor 17 controlling the operation of the device are mounted. Forsafety purposes, reducer 15 includes an adjustable clutch 18 whichdisengages motor 16 in case the device meets with an excessiveresistance against the rotation of the steering-wheel, so as to preventpossible damages to the device itself and/or to the steering kinematicchain. The present device further includes the means for the remotecontrol which, in the illustrated embodiment, consist of a radioreceiver (not shown) picking up the pulses of a radio control, but theymight as well consist, in particular cases of interferences, of a wirecontrol.

On the upper portion of frame 14, on the outside thereof, there ismounted a knob 19 coaxial with shaft 10 and provided with an internalclutch 20 suitable to disengage said knob 19 from said shaft 10; betweenthe end of shaft 10 and knob 19 there is interposed a disc 21, integralwith the latter, provided with a tongue 22 which, upon rotation of saiddisc 21, passes between two photocells 23 positioned below shaft 10 andconnected to processor 17 which thus detects the passage of tongue 22,said passage being also indicated by the switching on of an indicatorlight 24 located in front of said photocells 23.

Referring now also to FIG. 3, there is seen that frame 14 is connectedat the bottom to the device portion which provides the support to reactto the steering-wheel rotation torque.

A central structure 25, centered with respect to frame 14, contains abattery, for operating motor 16, which is charged through properelectrodes 26 outside the battery container; the ends of two rods arepivoted on each side of structure 25, a main rod 27 in a more advancedposition and a secondary rod 28 in a more receded position towards thesteering-wheel, both of them being pivoted at the other end on a supportrod 29 which is provided at the bottom with a support plane 30, alsopivoted on said rod 29 and provided with a pair of feet 31.

For the manual operation of the supporting members, the main rod 27extends forward into a lever 32 integral therewith, and it is providedwith an external spring 33 suitable to retain the supporting structurein the bent position upwards and subsequently, once in the downwardsrotation indicated by arrow A the return point has been surpassed, toexert a pressure on the support rod 29 to achieve the self-adjustment ofthe support plane 30.

The operation of the device according to the present invention is nowillustrated, in particular with reference to the starting positionmemorization function.

As already mentioned in the description of the device, the installationon ring 1 of the steering-wheel is carried out through jaws 1 which areopened and then closed by means of knob 5, the steering-wheel being inany position; once jaws 1 have been properly tightened, the lowersupport structure is lowered, with the aid of springs 33, by pushing onlevers 32 so that feet 31 lean on a reaction plane which, for example,is the seat bottom or the vehicle floor, and whose inclination withrespect to the device is compensated by the self-orientation of thesupporting planes 30 which are pivoted on rods 29. In case of leaning ona sinking surface such as the seat bottom, the presence of springs 33allows to lower feet 31 until the plane reacts with a force equal tothat of spring 33, thus avoiding sensible settling in the first phasesof the steering-wheel rotation.

Having thus provided the device with the base required to react to thesteering-wheel reaction torque, the operator carries out the centeringof the steering-wheel by operating motor 16, through the remote control,which puts into rotation arm 3 as indicated by arrow B, until hevisually finds the alignment of spiders II of the steering-wheel. Oncethe steering-wheel is exactly centered on the vertical, the operatordisengages knob 19 from shaft 10 by means of clutch 20 and rotates saidknob 19, carrying along disc 21, until he detects, by means of indicator24, the alignment of tongue 22 with photocells 23; then he engages againknob 19 on shaft 10 and resets the rotation count carried out byprocessor 17, which, from now on, provides the memorization of thedirection and number of the passages of tongue 22 through photocells 23.

After having carried out the setting operation of the present device,the operator can go below the vehicle to proceed to the forecarriagetruing operation, with no further need to climb up to rotate thesteering-wheel since the remote control allows him to carry out thesteering of the wheels in the direction and for the angle required, withthe possibility, for example by means of two different push-buttons, ofa fine or rough adjustment of the steering angle.

At the end of the truing, the operator sends the steering-wheelrealignment command to processor 17, which said processor 17 carries outby taking into account the steering-wheel position as it results fromthe rotations it has memorized; in order to divide equally between thetwo directions of rotation the unavoidable mechanical plays present inthe kinematic chain, the device does not immediately stop thesteering-wheel at the starting position, but surpasses it and then comesback surpassing it in the opposite direction and so on, with anoscillation of decreasing amplitude around said starting position.Therefore, it is apparent that the device according to the presentinvention fully achieves the intended object of replacing the additionallabour presently required, with the further advantage of a precision ofrotation and of return to the starting position impossible to bemanually achieved.

All the members of the above-described embodiment may of course bereplaced by equivalents thereof, for example a different system fordetecting and memorizing the rotations, a different motion transmissionchain, a different kind of motor, and so on.

I claim:
 1. A remotely controlled device for rotating the steering-wheelof a motor vehicle and then taking it back to the starting position,comprising;an upper portion for rotating the steering-wheel having aplurality of substantially hook-shaped jaws for securely gripping thesteering-wheel ring the upper portion being integrally mounted at theoutput of means for transmitting a rotation motion transmitted by amotor, said transmitting means being connected through a central frameto a lower self-adjusting support portion suitable to provide a baserequired to react to the steering-wheel reaction torque, said lowersupport portion further comprising means for detecting the rotations ofthe steering-wheel means for remotely controlling the device, and meansfor memorizing the rotations of the steering-wheel, and wherein thehook-shaped jaws are slidably mounted on an arm wherein two guides arelongitudinally formed, a closing and opening movement of the jaws beingcontrolled by a knob to which a gear engaging two rack members iscoaxially integral, the jaws being mounted on an end of the rackmembers, each of the rack members being connected, at an end opposite tothat of the jaws, to an end of the arm through a spring which exerts atraction such as to keep the jaws tightly closed.
 2. The deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the motor is an electric motor and themeans for transmitting the rotation motion of the motor comprises ashaft having a gear keyed thereon and operated by gears connected to areducer located at the output of said motor, and wherein the means fordetecting and memorizing the rotations comprises a knob coaxial withsaid shaft and provided with an internal disengage said knob from theshaft, a disc, interposed between the end of the shaft and the knob andintegral with the knob, provided with a tongue which passes between twophotocells upon rotation of said disc, a processor connected to saidphotocells, and an indicator light which shows the passage of saidtongue between photocells.